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The will-o'-the-wisps were incredibly dangerous, as anyone with sense knew. But being led astray by them left a certain imprint on one's aura. Belboz shuddered to think what he had done to the knight, but what would be worse was what he had yet to do to the little girl he'd become. Hannah was only six, but the directions were very simple. She reached the marsh all on her own. Standing there and surveying it, she thought how icky it all seemed. But the nice old man had said that her parents were on the other side, and that he couldn't come with her. So she would have to make it on her own. Belboz had made sure, when forming her new personality, to give her an unhealthily large dose of courage. She promptly lost her shoes in the muck and cut one foot on a rock. Trying not to cry, she looked up--and saw one of the lights the old man had told her about. It was so pretty! She trudged after it. It vanished after a few minutes, but another soon took its place. The girl found soon that she couldn't not follow them, couldn't even look away.
Belboz gave it three hours. There was no way Hannah was not hopelessly lost, sobbing, and terrified by now. His journey through the marshes on his magic carpet to find her took less than one-sixth of that amount of time. He found her completely filthy and still chasing after the lights, tears running down her face. When he scooped her up, she started kicking and screaming, "NO! I have to keep following them! Let me down let me down LET ME DOWN!" But he just held onto her, cleaned her up with a flick of his hand, and said, "Shhhhh," laying a hand on her forehead. She was asleep within seconds.
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